Journey to the past
by Tomoe2
Summary: When Sally's father suddenly dies, she unwillingly needs to face her painful childhood, back at the Po's ancestral house. Wufei beeing the only one she can rely on, she takes him along the way. Discovering about Sally's past, Wufei discover about his ow
1. Bad news

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam wing, but I do own all the character I created, feel free to email me to borrow them!

This is one on my first long Gundam wing. Since English is my second language, please be patient with mistakes!

Enjoy!

Part I (Revised)

It was a bad day. No. It was an awful day. She had slept in, so her hair was awful since she didn't have time to take a shower. Her car had refused to start so she had to take the bus. But the bus was also late! When she had finally arrived to work, it was 10:30. But that was only the beginning. After that she tripped in the stairs right in front of Wufei, she tore her tights on a nail, tearing her skin at the same time, she dropped her coffee on her laps, also in front of Wufei, she hit her head under her desk, while trying to reach her pencil and her computer got infected by a virus. On the top of all that, she was in the middle of her period, caught with a terrible flu which was giving her an infernal headache caused by her sinus congestion. Her nose was red and aching and she was now out of tissues. She got up carefully, trying not to hit her knees or toes on anything. The room was turning a bit. She realised that the medicine she had taken was not non-drowsy after all. Slowly, she made it to the door without any harm. As she took the doorknob in her hand, the door opened right in her face, hitting her forehead violently and making her fall on the floor with a noisy "screeek." "There goes my skirt!" She thought resigned getting a hand to her forehead to see if it was bleeding. It wasn't but she would have one of these bumps. She looked up to see Lady Une's secretary staring at her.

"Major Po! What are you doing on the floor?"She asked, brilliant as usual.

"Sunbathing" thought Sally sarcastically. "What a question!"

"Nothing." replied Sally, trying to get up without the help of the secretary who didn't seem to want to help anyway. It took her a moment since she was wearing high heels and the room was still going round, but she made it. She smoothed the wrinkles on her skirt, trying to find where the seam had rip. She did not.

"I have this letter for you." Said the little secretary holding out a white envelope covered with Chinese characters.

Sally took it without getting her eyes off it. She knew that writing. Whose was it? Her dad's? No, it was too perfect. Her mother-in-law's? Maybe, though she could not figure why that old witch would write to her. Lady Une's secretary broke Sally's train of thoughts.

"By the way, your bra is very nice" She said, closing the door.

Sally looked down. It was her blouse that had makes that sound. It was ripped right under each of her breasts, showing clearly her red lace bra. Sally turned scarlet and sighed; at least, she had her jacket to cover up that mess. The envelope still in hand, she managed to get to her chair and sit. Then she bends on the envelope but her nose began to flow. She pinched it with one hand, trying to reach the tissues with the other hand. Her hand only met the empty box.

"Damn!" She cursed.

Again, she got up, holding her head back to prevent her nose from flowing. She tried to snort. It was useless. Slowly she walked toward the door when it opened.

"Is everything alright here? Lady Une's stupid secretary told me…" Wufei stopped his sentence, stunned by what he was looking at. Sally with her head back and a hand on her nose walking with a tore up blouse showing her bra. Adding to that the tore up tights and the coffee on her skirt. Wufei turned red and went out without saying any other words. When the door was closed, Sally heard him laugh like she never had before. Tears were probably running down his cheeks by the time he got back to his office. Sally sighed, her eyes filled with tears.

"That does it!" she thought.

Carefully, she got back behind her desk and put her jacket on, without getting her head straight. Then, she took the phone and dialled Noin's number.

"Lucrezia Peacecraft talking. How may I help you?" asked a soft voice.

"Noin, it's Sally."

"Oh! Hi Sally, how are you?"

"Bad, real bad."

"What's the matter?" asked Noin, concerned.

"I'll explain it to you, but before could you bring me a Kleenex box, and FAST!"

Noin was laughing loudly, holding her aching sides. This was too funny. She was sitting in front of Sally who was blowing her nose with the tissues she had brought.

"So Wufei laughed! I didn't think that was possible…" She remarked, still laughing herself. "This isn't your day, I hope for you that'll end soon." She added, getting up. "Do you want me to get you something for that bump of yours, it's getting quite violet." She asked.

Sally touched it to see if it had got bigger. She removed her hand instantly, it was really painful. She smiled at Noin, well she tried.

"Gonna be alright. I need a proof to sue that stupid girl."

Noin grinned, walking toward the door.

"Well, I'll get back to work. Oh! One more thing, take the day off tomorrow, will you."

Sally rolled her eyes, laughing. Noin closed the door. As she walked to the elevator, she shook her head, smiling. Sally was impossible! Sally got back to her work. She just could not take the day off tomorrow; there was that big meeting with West division. She just had to attend it since she was the one talking about the recruitment campaign, the most important project for the years to come. Speaking of that, she had to fix some parts of the executive summary that Wufei had forgotten about. Trying to find the rough copy in that mountain of papers she had on her desk, she fell on that letter Lady Une's secretary had brought her. She had forgotten about it. Carefully, she unsealed the envelope, letting a small piece of rice paper out. With the same care, she unfolded it and started reading. Her hands began to shake as her widened. She could not believe it. Her day had been awful, but this was overwhelming.


	2. Going on a trip ?

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam wing, but I do own all the character I created, feel free to email me to borrow them!

This is one on my first long Gundam wing. Since English is my second language, please be patient with mistakes!

Enjoy!

Part II (Revised)

Wufei looked by the window. They were flying above the heavy grey clouds. The sky was ink black and the stars shinning bright since it was new moon. He sighed, closing his eyes hoping he would fall asleep soon. They were the only ones in first class, except from a big businessman and his wife who were already sleeping silently. The only thing he could hear was the noisy breathing of his partner. He opened his eyes. Sally was sitting next to him, asleep. She still had her earphones on, holding her Discman in her sleepy hand. Wufei could still hear the jazzy music playing. Carefully, he stopped it and removed the earphones from Sally ears, taking the Discman away. She groaned a bit, but didn't wake up. Wufei sighed again, returning to the window, still wondering what he was doing here.

It was five when Sally dropped in his office. Even though she seemed serious, Wufei couldn't help it and laughed at he funny way she looked. Sally waited for him to calm down, with a fed up look on her face. Wufei noticed she wasn't reacting as usual, screaming and raging.

"What is it, Woman?" He asked, putting abstractedly order in his documents.

Sally sat down in front of him and put an airplane ticket on the desk. Then she sighed.

"The flight is at 11:30 tonight, I couldn't get better. Prepare your luggage and be ready at ten, the taxi will pick you up. We're leaving for a week, or so…" She ended, getting up.

"Hey! Woman, wait a second! Where are we going?»

"China."

"Is it for the job?»

"No." She answered, flatly.

"Woman, this isn't the time for vacation! Even though you're sick, you can't miss tomorrow's meeting. Take back your ticket, Woman. I can't afford to leave at such an important moment." He declared, holding her back the ticket. "On second thought, even if I could, I wouldn't take a plane with you. Considering the day you had, the plane might just crash!"

Without minding him, she walked to the door, trembling. She slowly closed it, facing it a moment. Her hands were shaking on the doorknob.

"What is it now, Woman! You're crying?" He asked, snorting. "Women are so weak…"

Suddenly Sally turned and started walking toward Wufei, stomping. Her hands were clenched in shaking fists. She stopped in front of Wufei.

"DAMN IT WUFEI! MY FATHER JUST DIED!" She shouted. "IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK YOU TO ACCOMPANY ME!"

Wufei stared at her, his mouth opened. He was prepared to everything, except to that.

"I didn't know you still had relatives." He said to Sally who stood there, fighting against herself not to break down and cry.

"Well, I do." She replied taking a seat. "I can't go there alone because…" She looked away, and then came back to Wufei. Her eyes crossed his. They stared at each other a moment. Wufei felt pretty strange inside. It was as if his heart was melting. The magic came to an end when Sally suddenly sneezed all over Wufei's desk. He got up, disgusted.

"Woman! This is so gross! You disgust me!" He grimaced.

Sally was leaning on the desk, her head in her arms. Her shoulders were going up and down silently in little spasms.

"Hey! Woman! Are you crying?" Wufei asked for the second time.

Sally answered with a little giggle. Then, she raised he head, laughing hysterically. Tears began to roll on her cheeks as she restarted to laugh silently, her mouth wide open. Then she bent, holding her aching sides making noise again. Wufei sighed and started to wipe his desk, and papers, and computer… By the time he was done, Sally had calm down a bit, even though she was still giggling from time to time.

"I'm sorry" She finally articulated, starting to laugh again at the idea.

Wufei snorted and sat down.

"Ok. Lets pretend I say yes and actually come with you. Who's going to attend at the reunion?" He asked.

Sally cleared her throat, a large smile on her face.

"No one there is no meeting tomorrow."

"Why?" Asked Wufei, taken aback.

"The representative of the West division called Noin to ask her if they could report the meeting to next Friday." She responded getting up and preparing herself to leave.

"Why?»

"Mortality. His wife just died." Answered Sally with a sigh. She glanced at Wufei. "So, do I count you in?"

"Well, since there's no meeting, I don't see why I'd say no. It's been a while since I've returned to China, so…"

Sally gave him a thankful smile then turned around, heading for the door.

"Be ready at ten. I'll pick you up with the taxi."

"Woman, since when do you order me around?" Wufei asked.

Sally stopped and looked over her shoulder. Wufei was smiling, gently.

"Oh! By the way, bring Chinese traditional clothing"

That was the last thing she said. Wufei would have wished for more explanations, but when he met Sally, at ten, she was under the effects of medicine and could hardly stay awake. It took her several minutes to get the things fixed at the airport and Wufei had to help her to make their licence for carrying weapons being accepted. Since Sally looked totally drunk, they had quite a hard time. Hopefully, they made it in time for the flight. Again, Wufei missed his chance to interrogate Sally since she fell in a deep sleep as soon as she sat. He doubted that she had taken a flu medicine. She looked like she had taken sleep pills or a tranquilliser, a strong one. Anyway, he would have to ask her why she asked him to come. He was always treating her rudely, he could not figure why she had asked him. She could have asked Noin or Even Lady Une, but she chose him. Why?

Wufei looked at Sally. She was lovely in her sleep, wearing this black satin Chinese dress, her golden hair twisted in a nice chignon. He looked at her visage. There was still that huge blue bump on her pale forehead. She had dark shadows under her eyes. "She sure had a hard day" He thought. "She looks as if someone had beaten her bad." Wufei yawned. Then, after giving the night a last glance, he put the earphones in his ears, pressed play and closed his eyes. "Not too bad, Woman. You have good tastes in music" He murmured. Soon, he fell asleep.


	3. First contact

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam wing, but I do own all the character I created, feel free to email me to borrow them!

This is one on my first long Gundam wing. Since English is my second language, please be patient with mistakes!

Enjoy!

Part III (Revised)

"Woman!"

Someone was shaking her.

"Woman, wake up!"

Sally opened slowly her eyes. Her eyelids were so heavy.

"What?" She asked, closing her eyes again.

"I said WAKE UP!" Shouted Wufei, shaking her harder.

She stepped and shook her head, blinking her eyes.

"Are we there yet?" She asked, yawning, her mouth wide open.

"It's been fifteen minutes since we've landed! Woman, you're hard to wake up."

"Sorry" She replied, trying to get off from her seat. It did not seem like she would be able to. She looked up at Wufei, fighting hard to keep her eyes opened.

"Would you help me to stand?" She asked, holding out her hands.

Wufei rolled his eyes and helped her.

"So weak!" She heard him say under is breath. Sally pretended not to hear it.

"I think you'll have to help me all the way. I'm not sure I'll be able to walk or stand by myself." She said in a sleepy voice, passing her arm over Wufei's shoulder. She felt his muscles stiffening at the contact of her arm, but she had no choice. They started walking toward the exit, followed by a Chinese stewardess who looked at them as if they were total weirdoes.

"We probably do look like weirdoes" Thought Wufei, as they passed through a large gate.

After picking up their luggage, Wufei took care of the legal formalities. Still, he had difficulties, but with Sally's passport. She was practically sleeping on his shoulder and Wufei was having a hard time making believe the customs officer that he had not drugged her and that this was her real passport, not a fake. After the legal part had been settled, Wufei, with a snoring Sally in his right arm and about a half-dozen bags and suitcases in the other, that without counting Sally's huge purse and the black wooden box containing his sword, reached the closest bench and sat, exhausted already. He looked around. The airport was quiet and calm. He looked at his watch. Three in the morning. Carefully, he pulled the little button on the side of his Rolex and adjusted the time. Twelve thirty a.m. He sighed. At least, they would sleep longer. But where? Wufei shook Sally.

"Woman! Woman!»

Sally opened her eyes, apparently somewhere else. Wufei shook her again, harder. Sally groaned, getting back to sleep. Wufei snorted. Then a little evil smile came across his lips. He took a deep breath.

"WOMAN! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" He yelled, making everyone in the airport jump and look at him.

"WHERE?" Sally jumped on her feet, her eyes wide open, her hand searching for her gun. She was breathing heavily, totally awake. It took her a little moment to return to reality. When she realised that the few people around were all staring at her, she turned red and turned around to face Wufei who was getting up.

"HEY! What is your damn problem?" She hissed.

Wufei held her out her purse.

"Woman! I don't know what it is that you took, but it's very powerful. You just wouldn't wake up!" He explained calmly, giving her other bags.

"Well, you just had to shake me. No need to make fools of us" She protested while he was picking the other bags and suitcases.

"I DID shake you! And I don't mind what other people think of me." He replied, ready to leave. "So, where are we going now?»

Sally yawned, the stress was fading.

"There should be a carriage for us." She said, starting to walk toward the doors.

Wufei caught up with her fast.

"You mean a car, right?"

"Nope, I mean a carriage"

"With horses?"

"With horses."

"Made of wood?"

"Made of wood."

"The real thing with the guy driving on the top?"

Sally stopped and turned to Wufei.

"YES! The real thing with the guy driving on the top!" She repeated, annoyed. "What's with the questions, Wufei?»

"Listen Woman, in the state you're in now, you could be having hallucinations!"

Sally rolled her eyes.

"But I'm glad to see amelioration!" He said.

"What amelioration?" She asked, really annoyed.

"You can stand and walk by yourself! Damn!" He said rubbing his right shoulder with a hand full with bags. "You're so heavy, Woman!" He ended with a serious face.

«I may be heavy, but you're so skinny that your bones were hurting me!" She lied.

«Well, you seemed to feel comfortable since you were snoring like a pig!" He replied with a satisfied smirk.

"I didn't snore!" She protested, offended.

"How come you know, Woman, you were asleep!»

"I did NOT snore." She repeated.

"You did."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did no… KYAAAAAAAAA ! WU FENG !" She screamed, letting all her bags down to start running toward a tall Chinese man. When she got close enough, she jumped in his arms and kissed him on the cheeks.

Wufei felt a bit jealous. The man was taller than him and probably older than him. He was also really handsome. Who was he? Her husband? With a sigh, he picked up the bag she had let down and started to walk to catch up with them. Sally was smiling. It had been a long time since he saw her smile like this. He could not remember when he did the last time. Probably when the war had end, but he was not sure. When he got closer, he saw Sally making signs with her hands; Wu Feng was doing the same. Sally laughed. Then, she noticed Wufei. She made a few more signs to the man and turned to Wufei.

"Wufei, this is my brother Wu Feng Long." She explained still making signs.

"Pleased to me you." Said Wufei relieved, joining his hand in front of him and making a small bow.

"He says he's pleased to meet you." She repeated still making the signs.

Wu Feng made some signs and Sally started to laugh.

"I'm sorry, I didn't remember!" She said with both hands and words.

"Didn't remember what?" Asked Wufei.

"Wu Feng is deaf and mute, but he can read lips. I wasn't sure he would be able to read yours since you talked fast."

"Oh"

Wu Feng put a hand on Sally's shoulder to have her attention. He told her something. Sally nodded and then bowed at him.

"What's happening?" Wufei was getting lost.

"He told me I was rude since I didn't introduce you." She explained smiling at her brother. "So, Wu Feng, this is Mr Wufei Chang. He…"

Wu Feng asked Sally a question.

"Wu Feng wants to know if you're of the…" She looked at her brother who repeated." Of the Dragon Clan, or something like that. I'm not too sure what he means by it."

Wufei nodded, surprised. Sally wasn't aware of his relation to this clan, so how come that simple man knew… He would have to check about that, but Wu Feng didn't seem really dangerous, though appearances can lie. Meanwhile, Wu Feng, looking satisfied of Wufei's answer, began to "talk" with his sister. Sally suddenly blushed and gave her brother a small slap on the arm. He started to laugh; well it looked like it even though he wasn't making a sound. Sally ended the presentation.

"Mr Chang is my partner at work" She said, insisting uselessly on the word partner.

Wu Feng bowed to Wufei with a large smile.

"We should get going, or Mother will be mad." Stated Sally obviously willing to change the subject. She started picking up some bag with Wufei. Wu Feng stopped them and took all the suitcases and bags. Sally kept her purse and Wufei his precious sword. Wu Feng was leading the way out, followed by Sally and Wufei.

"What did he say to make you blush?" Asked Wufei.

"Huh?" Replied Sally, the fatigue starting to invade her again, stronger than ever.

"What were you two talking about when you blushed?" He asked again.

Sally blushed without answering and started walking faster. Wufei followed.

"Woman, answer me…"

Sally remained silent and pushed the door. Wufei took another one.

"Woman, I said…" Wufei didn't end his sentence, stunned. Right in front of him was a real traditional Chinese carriage with four horses. He just couldn't believe it. He thought Sally was making fun of him, but the real thing was right there in front of his eyes next to the taxis. Wu Feng who had just finish to load the baggage grinned and went to take place to drive. Sally, who was already in, lifted the little silk curtain and poked her head out.

"Are you coming or do you intend to stay there all night with that stupid look on her face." She asked in a sleepy voice. Without letting him time to answer she closed the curtain. Wufei snorted.

"Such a stubborn woman." He mumbled as he opened the door to see Sally already sleeping, using her purse as a pillow. She was snoring. Wufei sighed and put the box containing his sword on the floor as the coach started to move slowly. Wufei sat and tried to sleep. He just couldn't, Sally was making too much noise. He remained a long moment looking at his partner, thinking of nothing in particular. This had been a very strange day. Then, without even realising it, he fell asleep.


	4. Ice cold

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam wing, but I do own all the character I created, feel free to email me to borrow them!

This is one on my first long Gundam wing. Since English is my second language, please be patient with mistakes!

Enjoy!

Part IV (Revised)

The house was quiet. Sally was standing straight, looking around. Mother's private boudoir had not change. Simply furnished, there was only a splendid wooden table with two chairs. On the wall facing her, Sally could admire a really old and gigantic Chinese ink representing the imperial court. An antic chandelier was hanging off the ceiling, lighting softly the room. Sally yawned, giving a look at her watch. It was five in the morning, the sun would rise soon. She tried to mentally calculate the time she had been sleeping. It was about four or five hours in total. The doctor in her was telling her to get in bed right now or she would never recover from that terrible flu. Unfortunately, she just could not. Sally snorted, trying to keep her nose from flowing. The sound it made was disgusting, but for the first time in three days, it worked. Sally smiled. She instantly wished that she had not.

"How dare you smile on a tragic day such as this one!" Hissed a voice.

Sally did not have time to move that a strong hand began to pull her hair. Her eyes widened as the pain became stronger. A tall slim Chinese woman, dressed up in a wonderful traditional Chinese black dress with gold ornamentation was standing in front of her. Her hair was tied up in a complex chignon, a beautiful golden comb holding it all. It would have been a good looking woman if she didn't had that angry look on her face.

"I'm sorry, Mother" Articulated Sally, two centimetres from the lady's face.

"Mother" rolled her eyes and pushed Sally on the wooden floor untying her chignon, making her golden hair cascade freely on her shoulders. She looked up, not moving. Mother snorted, staring at her with disgust.

"I can't believe you still didn't dye your hair. This colour is so awful, you don't even look Chinese. I guess that's a chance for us since you dishonoured your father and me." She said.

Sally looked down, taking it without a word. She knew, it was only the beginning.

"How long has it been since you left like a dog? Ten? Fifteen years? That's about it I don't believe you deserve to be here after all you've done. Your poor father…" She whispered dramatically. "I think that is what killed him. To be abandoned by both wife and daughter… I told him that the Americans were mean people, and I think he started to believe it when you deserted…"

Then, she went on lecturing Sally on various things. Each of her words was hurting Sally as if a thousand swords were piercing her heart at once. She was fighting hard to prevent her body from shaking. With all this practice with Wufei, it was also hard trying not to reply, but Sally knew it would only make it worst. The best thing to do was listen and hide her weaknesses from that witch. The worst thing to do would be to cry. Even though she felt like it, Sally was restraining her tears. She had too much pride. Finally, the lady ended.

"Mei ! Are you listening to me? Mei!»

Mother took her by the hair again and forced Sally to look at her. She grimaced under the pain.

"Mei! Wake up little tramp!"

"I am awake, Mother." Replied quickly Sally. No one had called her Mei in ages. Mother released her from her grip.

"Now go get changed and begin to work. You'll start with the hall. I want it to shine. Same thing with the salon. I want it done by eleven. After that, you'll help with the dinner. Everything must be ready for noon. I'll tell you what I want you to do in the afternoon later. Now go." She ordered, taking place at the table. Sally got up, but didn't go. Mother who was being served tea by an old maid looked up.

"Now what is it?" She asked, annoyed.

"Um… I… I mean…" Sally cleared her throat as the lady raised an eyebrow. "What about my guest?"

"What guest? Oh! You mean mister…"

"Mister Chang." Ended Sally.

Mother blinked at that name. "Chang… That means he's probably from the house of the Dragon. I guess it would make an interesting choice for Yuan…"She thought. "Well, Yuan can take care of him." She declared her eyes shinning bright. "Now go."

Sally bowed, seeing right through Mother's intentions. "I won't allow it." She whispered, climbing the stairs leading to her room.

Sally's knees were in fire. She had been polishing the floor since five thirty and it was now nearly seven. The hall was huge. The hardest part had been the stairs. Its banisters were all sculpted beautifully, but it was so complicated to clean! The better thing about it was that she was done. This had been faster than what she thought, seemed like she had not lost the touch, even after all these years.

"To the salon!" She thought, yawning. "If I hurry, I'll be done by nine thirty or ten, so I'll be able to make Wufei visit the house." Sally smiled even though her head hurt like hell.

"AUNT SALLY !" Screamed a little voice.

Sally raised her head to see a little Chinese girl in a white silk pyjama hurtle down the stairs to jump in her arms. The little girl hugged Sally with strength Sally began to laugh which made her cough a little.

"Meilan! I think you grew up since the last time I saw you!" She exclaimed, making Meilan stand before her.

"Yes, I did! And I also lost a tooth! See?" She said smiling to show the hole. "Aunt Sally?»

"Yes? »

"Did you bring me something?" She whispered in Sally's ear.

Sally smiled.

"Well…" She began.

"Meilan?" Called a soft voice, upstairs.

"I'm right here with Aunt Sally, mommy." She yelled on the top of her lung. Sally's ears rang.

Sally looked up again to see the mother of Meilan starting to go down the stairs. She looked beautiful. Her hair was untied and going down to the middle of her back, it was jet black. She was wearing a nice two pieces Chinese ensemble made of azure satin with white ornamentation. She was holding carefully the banister not to fall on her huge belly.

"I told you Meilan. When we come at grandma's house we must call Aunt Sally, Aunt Mei. Understood?" Meilan shook her head, pouting. "Now give Aunt Mei a great smile and go upstairs get dressed with Daddy." The little girl complied with a bow and climbed the stairs four at the time. But Sally didn't get to see it, still on her knees; she was looking at her sister- in-law with huge eyes.

"Li-han! You're pregnant! »

Li-han held out her hand to help Sally stand up.

"And you, you're already at work." She noticed.

Sally smoothed the wrinkles of her Chinese long grey shirt.

"Mother doesn't lose her time." She stated, trying to fix her hair a bit.

"Here, let me help you." Proposed Li-han, getting behind Sally. "Meilan did quite a mess!" She declared, laughing a bit.

Sally smiled.

"I don't mind. She's so adorable and full of life. I wish I could see her more often. I don't even remember the last time I saw her." She said with a sigh.

"Last year. It was her birthday. You gave her that little Japanese doll representing a geisha."

"Oh, yeah. Now I remember. And the baby, for when is it? "

"In a month or so. The doctor said it was a boy, but I feel it's a girl. Wu Feng wants a boy, but a girl would please me too. We'll be fixed soon."

"How does Meilan take it?»

"Pretty well. She wants a sister. Since she's six, she says she's old enough to take care of a baby."

"How cute! Ouch!»

"Sorry. Sally, your hair is so beautiful." Said Li-han, replacing the comb in Sally's hair. "I wish I had beautiful hair like yours. It's done" She declared, making Sally turn to face her.

"Thank you, but I'd rather have hair like yours. And you shouldn't call me Sally; you'll have problems if you do." She sighed.

"I know. Mei, may I ask you a question? »

"Sure, go ahead."

"Did you fight with someone? Or did someone hit you?»

Sally started to laugh and cough at the same time. Then, she told Li-han about the awful day she had the day before. Surprisingly, Li-han did not laugh a much as Sally had expected. She kept on nodding with a concerned look on her face.

"You shouldn't have to do all those chores." She said. "I mean, look at you. It's as if someone had beaten you really bad. I'll go and tell Mother to…" Sally stopped her.

"It's all right, Li-han. I can take it, I've seen worst. I don't want to create problems. I do it for Father, as a way to pay my respect to him." She declared with a gentle smile, but her sapphire eyes filled with sadness.

"Hum! Wu Feng told me that a man was accompanying you." She said to change the subject. "Is he the…" Li-han made a pause, searching for Sally's exact words. "Oh! Yes! Is he that "chauvinist macho" you were talking about last year?" She asked.

Sally started to laugh loudly. It was the first time she heard Li-han say something this mean. Even thought she was just repeating, it was funny.

"Yes, that's him." She confirmed, starting to cough again.

"I don't believe you told me his name."

"Chang. Wufei Chang." She answered with a smile.

Li-han smile faded when she heard the name, leaving a pensive look on her face. But before Sally could ask about it, Meilan came running down the stairs in a white dress followed by her father.

"Aunt Sa… Mei! Look at the beautiful dress Mommy gave me!" She exclaimed twirling to show all its sides.

"It's wonderful!" Declared Sally on a happy tone. "I think I'll be jealous! »

Meilan jumped on Sally and began to hug her, wrapping her arms around her waist.

"Don't be! You are beautiful too, even with that big bump and those blue circles under your eyes."

Sally smiled. Li-han rolled her eyes and traduced for her husband.

"She doesn't miss a thing." Thought Sally, looking down at her niece. Looking more carefully, she discovered something about Meilan's eyes.

"Li-han! Meilan's eyes! They…"

Li-han nodded.

"Yes, they're getting blue. My sister had blue eyes; I guess this is where it comes from. Now come on Meilan! Leave Aunt Mei to her work and come with us to take your breakfast. After, we'll go pay our respect to grandfather Po."

Meilan released Sally's waist and the little family began to move toward the dinning room. Meilan was trotting along, while Wu Feng was helping Li-han to walk with love.

"By the way." Asked Li-han, without turning around. "Did you have breakfast, Mei?»

"I did." Lied Sally.

Wufei opened his eyes slowly. Then he sat. "Where am I?" He thought. Suddenly, he remembered. He was in China with Sally. That was probably a room in her house. Wufei looked around. He was in a comfy bed full of pillows and cushions surrounded by veils. All was white. Carefully, Wufei drew the veil and got off the bed. Jumped off the bed would have been the right term since the bed was higher than he thought and he almost landed on his knees. Then again, Wufei took a look around. The room was not huge, but it was still big. The wooden floor was covered with beautiful carpets probably made by hand and antic. On the walls there were three Chinese ink representing young men and ladies of a bygone time. In a corner, a pretty Ming vase was filled with dry flowers. At his left, next to the door, two antic chests of drawers were standing against the wall along with his luggage. On the other side there were three windows made of wood and rice paper. Under each of them was an embedded bench full of white cushions. There was also a door. Wufei walked toward it to discover what was on the other side. He pushed to find a balcony with a breathtaking view. Wufei just could not believe his eyes. Below him laid an infinite bamboo forest dancing with the rhythm of the fresh wind. Wufei leaned on the sculpted banister and closed his eyes. The only sounds to be heard were the murmur of the leaves caressed by the breeze and the soft lapping of a nearby stream. The air was so fresh and pure. It gently carried the sweet perfume of the bamboo to Wufei's nose. Though the wind was fresh on his face, their caresses were eased by the warmth of the sun. Wufei felt his spirit soothing. And for the first time in so long, his heart was at peace. He smiled to himself, happy to have accepted Sally's offer. This house would be a nice place to meditate and practice martial arts.

Suddenly, he sensed a presence behind him. He opened his eyes, but kept looking at the dancing green forest.

"What is it?" He asked on a monotone voice.

"Mister Chang." Said a soft and calm voice.

Wufei turned around to see an old Chinese maid standing inside and looking down. In fact, it was the same maid Sally had seen serving tea to Mother.

"On behalf of my mistress Mrs Long, I would like to welcome you to the ancestral house of the Po family." She said with a respectful bow. Wufei bowed too.

"My name is Yin. I'm the one to ask for if you need anything. I hope you had a pleasant sleep."

"I did, thank you."

"Then I am pleased." She replied with another bow. "My mistress asked me to lead you to the bathroom so that you can refresh yourself." She added.

Wufei suddenly realised that he had sleep with his clothes on. As he entered the room, following Yin, a question formed in his mind.

"Where is Sally?" He asked.

Yin stopped and turned at Wufei.

"I'm sorry to ask you this but, who is Sally?"

Wufei blinked. Was he dreaming or what? This maid had to know Sally.

"She's about tall as me and has golden hair." He described.

Yin eyes lighted up.

"You mean Miss Mei. Right now she is in the salon preparing everything for the arrival of the guests. Now please follow me." She said starting to walk again.

Wufei frowned. "Miss Mei ?" He articulated silently as they exited the room.

"Miss Mei asked me to tell that she would meet you in one hour in the hall, at exactly ten fifteen." Explained Yin while leading the way in a long corridor with rice paper windows on one side and several doors on the other.

"Shouldn't I bring something to change up ?" Asked Wufei, following.

"I already did." Answered Yin.

Wufei didn't like the thought of having someone touching his things, but since he would not have known what to wear… Wufei's train of thoughts was interrupted when Yin opened a door and lead him in a small room with only one window. Two other maids were waiting for them.

"This is mister Chang. You shall obey him as you would obey Mrs Long or me." She ordered.

The ladies nodded.

"I will be leaving now. Take good care of mister Chang." She said with a small bow to Wufei.

"Wait a minute, Woman!" Asked Wufei.

"You may call me Yin." She Answered.

"Hum, ok. But what are they going to do?" He said pointing the two maids.

"They will help you…"

"I do NOT need help." He protested lively shaking his head in a negation sign. These women would not see him naked, no way.

Yin gave him a little look, confused.

"But my mistress insisted that you…" She began.

"Tell Mrs Long that I'm honoured of her attentions toward me but that I prefer to wash myself alone. Now please leave."

Yin looked at him again, biting her lower lip. Then she gave a look to the two maids.

"Leave mister Chang alone." She ordered. The two maids quietly left the room. Then Yin turned to Wufei. "Your clothes are there." She explained, showing a small chest of drawers. "I will come back in thirty minutes to lead you to the dinning room. There you shall have breakfast." She bowed at him then left, closing the door.

Wufei sighed in relief, alone at last! Slowly he got undressed, folding his dirty clothes to put them beside his clean ones. This reminded him so much of when he lived at the Dragon Clan's house. Back then was considered as the heir of the clan. Even though he was only a child, he was the master and everyone obeyed him. Servants, only women, would wash, dress and feed him. He was such a spoiled child, no wonder he had no friend since he was so arrogant. Wufei kneeled down next to the bath and took a tub full of water. He emptied it over his head. Wufei shivered, the water was ice cold. Fast, he began to soap his body and his hair. He was done in few minutes. Then, he rinsed himself with the water of another tub. It was also freezing. This done, Wufei rapidly plunged himself in the hot water of the large bath.

"Ahhhhh…" He moaned feeling his muscles soothing. Slowly, he let his body slip till his head was underwater. He remained this way a moment then came out with a loud gasp. Lethargically, he leaned on the bath's wooden border and closed his eyes.

"I wonder why they call Sally Mei. Maybe it's her real name. Sally doesn't sound Chinese after all. I'll have to ask her…" He thought. Wufei gave a look at his watch. "Better get dressed."


	5. Memories

Part V (Revised)

Sally wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. At last, she was done! And it was only ten minus fifteen. Maybe she would have the time to take a bath and get changed. Giving the salon a satisfied look, she pushed the door and started to walk toward the hall. She met Yin who was going to the dinning room. She looked confused.

"What is wrong, Yin?" Asked Sally.

"Your guest is a particular man. After refusing to be washed by my maids, he just refused to eat breakfast!" She declared as if it was the end of the world.

"He is, indeed, a particular man." She stated with a smile.

Yin bowed at her and went on, so did Sally. When she reached the staircase she looked up to see Wufei going down. When he saw Sally, he stopped, in the middle of the stairway.

Sally just could not believe her eyes. Wufei was dressed in a long white satin robe going down to his ankles. Starting from his collar down to his shoulder was a deep blue piece of satin cut into points. Sober ornamentation was holding it in place. A blue dragon, finely embroidered, was climbing the white satin up to Wufei's chest. On the sides, starting from his waist, the robe was open, showing his deep blue satin pants. His sword was hanging on his left side. He was wearing simple Chinese white shoes. Wufei looked as if he was a rich knight at the imperial court. But what was hypnotising Sally was Wufei's head. His face was golden under the dim light of the candles, his black eyes were shinning and his wet hair was hanging freely around his face giving him a sexy look. He was handsome… Far more than handsome. No words could describe his beauty.

While Sally was in total swoon over Wufei's beauty, he was also looking at her, in another way. She looked so tired. Her face was pale as the moon, except from her nose which was still red. The bump on her forehead was darker, as the shadows under her eyes. She was hunching her back under the pain and the fatigue. Her hands were all irritated. That grey outfit she was wearing was not advantaging her at all. It made her look even more pale and sick. Even with that smile on her face and her shinning blue eyes, Wufei could see that she was not doing well. He felt all strange inside. Though he could not identify this feeling of uneasiness, he knew that it was not too far from sadness. It truly hurt him to see her in such a state. The day before, it was funny, but without knowing why, now it did not seem funny at all.

Wufei finally started to go down again, making Sally snap out of her admiration. When they met, they looked at each other a moment without saying a word. Then, Sally looked down at her hand. Wufei sighed and started to play with his hair.

"You refused to have breakfast?" Asked Sally, breaking the silence.

"This Mother of yours keeps on planning things for me. No women order me around. I think you already know it, Woman." He said on is usual superior tone.

"I DO know that. No need to start over with the "baka onna" theories." Replied Sally in an annoyed voice.

"Glad to see you start to realise your place in society."

"I didn't say I was accepting your stupid ideals. I have mine, and it would look more like "baka otoko" theories." She said with a sly smile.

"Woman, you don't impress me at all."

"That wasn't the point."

Sally sighed. This was not going anywhere, and it was not going the way she wanted to, at all. Wufei finally tied his hair with a white ribbon. A little strand too short to be tied fell on the side of his face. Sally smiled softly, this was making him cute. Wufei replaced and looked at Sally.

"What's with the stupid smile?" He asked.

Sally's smile vanished as fast as it had come.

"Nothing more than with your stupid face." She replied starting to climb the stairs, angry. "Why do I even bother!" She thought.

"Woman!" Flung Wufei. "That maid told me you wanted to see me."

Sally stopped her ascension but did not turn around.

"I did. I wanted to make you visit the house, but you'll probably think of it as an order so never mind."

"I'd be delighted to visit your house." Protested Wufei in a weird soft voice that did not suit him.

Sally turned around to look down on Wufei.

"Delighted? Delighted isn't in your vocabulary, Wufei."

"Woman, I'm trying to be kind here." He said returning to his usual tone.

"Well stop it, it's not like you. Now, do you really want to visit it?"

"Why not? We'll be staying here a week."

"Okay, then." Said Sally coming down.

Wufei noticed she was having difficulties with her knees.

"Are you sure you can make the whole tour?" He asked in a concerned voice.

Sally glared at him, suspicious. Was he trying to be nice again, or was he really caring?

"I mean, you look as if a train has passed over you… Twice…"

Sally did not react as he expected. She looked down and sighed.

"I know. Now come on." She replied, starting to walk and show him around.

Wufei regretted what he had said, but it was too late. He had hurt her. Wufei could not help it. He had the bad habit of being mean to Sally when he wanted to say the opposite. He really wanted to know if she felt alright. Wufei sighed; he would have to catch up later.

Sally and Wufei were sitting on an old stone bench in the garden, under a blooming cherry tree. Sally was holding a branch and drawing something one the ground while Wufei watched attentively.

"As you can see, the house was built to be equilibrated. First, there is the main part, the older one." She said drawing a square. "This part contains the salon, Mother's boudoir and bathroom, on each side of the stairway. Then, under the stairs is the kitchen, here." She said pointing out. "I remember when my mother was alive, she would always make supper. It was her meal, and she was very good at it. On the left is the dinning room, and on the other is Mother's bedroom. To connect them there is a passage that you saw, which opens on the interior court. On the second floor, there are four rooms."

Sally began to cough. Wufei picked up the branch in her hand and drew another large square, next to Sally's one.

"There is a corridor in the middle, on each side, two doors. The two rooms in the front are longer, they're your bedroom and your sister's. The other two rooms are a bathroom and a library."

Sally smiled to Wufei who grinned also. She took back the branch to continue her drawing.

"Next to the old part, is the new one, though it's pretty old too. My father told me once that it was there long before his own grandfather was born. So the new part starts at the door opening on the interior garden. It is a bit larger than the old part. On the first floor, it is nothing more than a covered passage with walls on the exterior side. On the left and the right, a round door pierces the wall. That's a bit hard to draw, though." She said, laughing "Large red wooden columns support the second floor on the interior side. At the end, the corridors meet to close the square. There is the open tea room with a ceiling higher than the rest supported by huge red wooden columns. Strangely, rain never comes in this room. When I was young, my mother and I would sit there all afternoon on rainy day. The room wasn't like this though. Mother changed it when she arrived. Before, long golden veils were hanging of the ceiling, and on the side, my father had tied up red satin curtains to the huge columns. The floor was covered up by a huge Indian carpet. It was very soft. There were cushions everywhere. They were of every sizes and colours. In the middle, mother had put a small table, a lot like the Japanese tables. She called it our Indian paradise. Since she was sick, she wasn't working so we would spend all our time there. She loved to tell me stories about her numerous trips around the world. Before every one of them, she was lighting an incense stick. My favourite perfume was cinnamon. Cinnamon was for special stories, like how she had met my father, or how I was born. I thought that the incense was essential for my mother to tell a story, but I discovered, after she died, that she was burning it to cover the cigarette smell. My mother was smoking a lot, that's what killed her too. She died of a lung cancer. She could have lived longer, but she refused to go to the hospital. There were nurses coming at home, but they couldn't do much. My father loved her a lot and couldn't understand her decision. But my mother would always say: Everybody dies one day or another. I want to live my live fully with you, Shen and with Sally too. I love you both too much to leave you already. Those were her words; she didn't speak a word of Chinese. My mother died on September first 183 AC, I was seven years old, but I remember it like yesterday. We were in the Indian paradise. My mother was telling me the story of my birth, cinnamon incense was filling the room with its perfume. Suddenly, she stopped and told me she was tired. Even though I was a little girl, I was aware of my mother's sickness. So I told here that we could take a little nap and continue after. She agreed but asked me to sleep in her arms. I agreed, more than happy. So we fell asleep. When I woke up, she was dead. There was a peaceful smile on her face. With her curled blonde hair she looked like an angel. The rest isn't really clear. I remember shaking her, but she wouldn't wake up. I think I remained by her side till my father came back from work. I was crying silently, not too sure of what was happening. The thing that traumatised me the most was to see my father cry, holding the dead body of my mother in his arms as the sun was setting, illuminating the Indian paradise with its red light. The rest is very confused. Then, Mother appeared and destroyed our Indian paradise saying that it would be better for my sanity. Maybe she was right, but I never forgave her for it, and I think I never will…"

Sally looked up at Wufei. He was staring at her with huge eyes.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" She said on the verge of tears, realising what she had done. "I didn't mean to… I mean… I have to go." Then she stood up. As she started to walk, she felt Wufei's hand holding her wrist. She turned her head to see him look deeply in her eyes.

"The house." He said pointing the drawings. "We're not done." Gently, he pulled her to make her sit. Sally was surprised. No "Crying again, Woman." No "Woman are so emotional." No "Woman are so weak." Wufei had to be in a really good mood to listen to her silly memories and want more. Wufei took the branch again.

"Before we go on, I'll have to fix your mess." He explains, beginning to redraw the part she had step on. "While I do, you'll answer some of my questions." This was more an order than a suggestion. "First, what was your mother's name?"

Sally looked at him.

"Why do you want to know that?"

"Just answer. I want to know." He explained in a soft voice Sally didn't knew he was honestly capable of.

"Elise. Elise Smith, then Elise Po."

"That's a great name." He said in the same gentle voice. "Where was she from?"

"America."

Wufei raised an eyebrow.

"Was she as loud as Maxwell?"

Sally laughed a little, trying not to cough.

"No, Duo is kinda hard to compete with."

Wufei turned his face to her and smile gently.

"I know. Now, was it your mother who chose your name?" He asked returning to his drawings.

"Yes." She answered not too sure of what Wufei was up to.

"Then why does everyone here call you Mei?"

Sally smiled. So that was where he was heading to.

"Mother hates everything about Americans. When she moved in with Wu Feng, she obligated everyone to call me Mei. Even father did. After my mother's death, he became strange. He was like an empty shell. The only thing that would make him happy was to practice martial arts. But since he was working like a fool to pay Mother's rich expenses, he didn't get to practice much. Anyway, these days were sad ones. I don't think that he was noticing me at all. He was in a deep lethargy. I wonder if he even noticed it when I left…" She said with a sad voice.

"We can go on." Declared Wufei. Then he drew another square, next to his first one. "The second floor of the new part follows the construction of the first floor, except that instead of two long passages, there are four rooms, two on each side. Every room has its own balcony with a view of the bamboo forest on this side, and a view of the river and the bamboo forest, on the other side. My room is here." He said pointing out the last room on the "bamboo forest view" side. "At the end, the two parts unite over the tea salon. On each side, a door opens on a stairway leading to a small balcony built in the tea salon's roof." Wufei gave Sally the branch.

"On each sides of the house there is another building. On the left side, there is the dojo with its large patio made of stone for outside combat. On the other side, it's the servant's house. All this is surrounded by a large wall. In the front is the main entry with the monumental gate and in the back is the round door we see over there, leading to the outer garden in which we are now. There, our tour is complete." She said throwing the branch away. Then, she crossed her arms, shivering. Suddenly, she felt Wufei's warm hand on her forehead.

"You have a fever." He said plainly, looking in front of him.

Sally touched her forehead. It's was hot.

"Maybe we should get back inside." She proposed.

"Yes." He answered, getting up. His tone of voice was cold, as if it had cooled with the breeze.

Sally got up too. Immediately, she felt dizzy and her headache came back, rushing. But she was not going to worry Wufei with it. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the pain to make it go away. He had been kind enough to listen to her, but now he seemed strange, she would probably annoy him with her sickness. Anyway, he was already ahead so he did not see her. Slowly, the pain diminished enough for her to bare it. She opened her eyes. Wufei was still in front of her, looking at the forest. He did not seem to have notice her sudden weakness. Sally matched up with him.

"Shall we go?" She asked.

Wufei snapped out of his thoughts. He looked at her as if she had said something in a strange language. Sally was about to ask him if there was anything wrong when a little girl came running toward them and jumped on Sally. Sally took her in her arms even though she was a bit too heavy now for those kinds of things. Wufei looked at them.

"I'm so glad I found you! I thought you were lost!" She said with an over dramatic tone, hugging Sally tighter.

Sally laughed/coughed.

"Well, it's a chance you came because we were lost!"

At the word "we", Meilan turned her head to Wufei.

"Are you a prince?" She asked in a shy voice.

Wufei smiled very sweetly.

"Maybe, what do you think?"

"I think you are because you have a sword and your are very handsome like in the books."

Sally smiled; putting Meilan down, her back was killing her. Wufei squatted to be on the little girl eyes level. She looked down. Wufei took her little chin in his hand and lift it up to make her look in his eyes. Meilan blushed.

"Why are you blushing, Xiaolong?"

"Why do you call me little dragon?" She asked, answering with another question.

"Because you have the eyes of a dragon. You have the spirit of the dragon."

"Really?" She asked with shinning eyes.

"Yes, but now answer me. Why are you blushing?"

"Well… I shouldn't look in a prince's eyes."

Wufei smiled.

"You can look in my eyes, Xiaolong, because I'm not a prince. Princes don't need to carry a sword, but the ones protecting him need to. I'm not a prince, I'm a knight." He explained.

Meilan started to giggle. Sally could not believe it. She did not know that Wufei was so good with kids. To tell the truth, she thought that he could not stand them.

"You're not a knight! You can't be!" She protested.

"Why is that?" Asked Wufei, pretending to be offended.

"You can't be! That would make Aunt Sally your princess, and I know that she isn't a princess!"

Wufei looked up at Sally. She blushed and looked away.

"You're right, I'm not a prince or a knight. You are pretty smart, Xiaolong. Now tell me your name."

"My name is Meilan !" She said holding out her hand to Wufei.

Wufei's eyes softened at the name. He took her hand and they shook hands.

"You have a beautiful name, Xiaolong, and I'm sure that you honour it."

Meilan did not seem to understand what Wufei meant.

"Now you have to tell me your name too." She declared.

"My name is Wufei Chang." He said with a bow. Meilan bowed at him.

"Are you Aunt Sally's boyfriend?" She asked suddenly.

Sally looked at Wufei and held her breath, waiting for his answer. Wufei smiled.

"No, we only work together."

Sally sighed, not really relieved though. Meilan ran to her and held her by the waist, looking up at Wufei who was now standing straight.

"Well you should be, because Aunt Sally is marvellous. She is beautiful and smart. Also, she always brings me nice things." Explained the little girl.

"Now that's enough, Meilan. You're making Wufei feel uncomfortable." She gave as a pretext, feeling uncomfortable herself.

"I'm sorry." She said, hiding her face in Sally shirt.

"It's okay, don't be sad." Sally replied, stroking the little girl's hair.

Sally kept on looking at her niece, unable to look at Wufei. She was really feeling uncomfortable. Now Wufei was probably thinking that she had told Meilan to say those things. She yawned, wishing for a bed. Suddenly, Meilan let go of Sally and look at her wrist.

"Oh! It's already seven!" She exclaimed looking at a fictive watch. "I have to go; the emperor is waiting for me." Then, she bowed at both Sally and Wufei and started running toward the house, on her way; she met a Chinese young woman and pulled her tongue at her. The woman rolled her eyes and went on.

"I'm sorry for the embarrassment." Apologised Sally without looking up.

"Don't be, she is only a kid. She probably says everything that's on her mind." He said coming back to his soft tone of voice.

Sally finally found the courage to look at him. He was smiling, gently. Sally grinned too, but started to cough.

"There you are!" Said a sharp voice.

Sally and Wufei both turned to the door to see a Chinese young woman in a white dress. She walked toward Sally.

"You should be in the kitchen now; you know that, little tramp?"

Wufei turned at Sally, waiting for an explosive answer. Instead of it, she looked at her watch. It was already eleven and ten.

"Oh God! Wufei, I have to go, I'll meet you at dinner." She said, starting running toward the house. "Mother is going to kill me." She thought.

Wufei looked at Sally running away. He was about to follow her when the young woman stopped him.

"You must be Wufei." She said looking at him in the eyes.

"Yes, that would be me. Wufei Chang." He replied a bit annoyed by her lack of manners.

"You are?"

"Yuen. Yuen Long." She replied still looking at him in the eyes, as if she was defying him.

"You are Sally's sister?"

"Half-sister. Unfortunately." She added with a sigh. "And you, what are you to Mei?"

"To Mei, nothing, but I do work with Sally." He replied. "How sarcastic that I insist on Sally's name now when I usually don't…" He thought.

"So you call her Sally too. That name is so… I can't find the word to describe it, but the only thing I can say is that Sally is the perfect name for that tramp."

Wufei's jaws clenched. He closed his eyes and expired slowly to calm himself. He opened his eyes. Yuen was still looking into them.

"How old are you?" He asked.

"Seventeen." She answered, taken aback.

"Well, young lady, you are very impolite. First toward Sally and second toward me. Don't you know that you shouldn't be looking into a man's eyes?" He lectured.

Yuen crossed her arms on her chest and took a superior look still staring at Wufei in the eyes.

"Sally does look into your eyes, doesn't she?" She said as if she had found the crack in Wufei's perfect façade.

"Sally is older than I am, and also I have the obligation to consider her as my equal since we work together and have the same military grade."

"Well, now explain why this stupid kid that goes by the awful name of Meilan can look into your eyes."

Yuen never saw it coming. Wufei's strong slap took her by surprise.

"Chikuso ! She's just a kid! But I believe that she is more mature than you'll ever be."

Yuen held her cheek in her hands.

"You slapped me!" She exclaimed with watery eyes.

"Yes I did, and I hope it put some sense into you, Woman!"

On these words, Wufei started to walk back home. He was furious and did not know why. Of course, hearing the name Meilan being insulted did not help, but he felt it was something bigger. He snarled. "The hell with these women!" He thought as he felt a little drop of cold water on his face. He looked up. Dark clouds were covering the sun, and soon, with the wind, the sky would be totally grey. It suited perfectly Wufei's mind.


	6. Vicious snake

Part VI (Revised)

Sally got off Wufei's embedded bed. He had not slept there for long, but still, the sheets were impregnate of his scent, a sweet melange of his shampoo and of his own body scent. Sally sat on the bench used as a stair to climb in the bed holding the sheets in her arms. Leaning her back against the wall, she closed her eyes. The rain was pouring hard on the rice paper. She was so tired. She would have given anything for an hour, only one hour of sleep. Adding to that, her sinuses were killing her, giving her an enormous headache. Her nose was not flowing anymore, but instead of that, she was coughing and it was getting worst by the hour. At least, she was not hungry anymore. When she arrived in the kitchen, Mother was there waiting, furious. She slapped her on the face and told her to respect her engagement. As a punishment, she had to make the dinner without attending to it. The only thing she ate was rice porridge, but that did not bother her since she did not feel like eating fish for breakfast anyway. Mother gave her other chores to pass time while the others were eating, but since there was not much to do, Sally ended up having to change the sheets in Wufei's bed because he would have to sleep in the same room as her since there were other guests coming. The other orders of Mother were to take a bath and get changed. Sally could not have wished for more. Slowly, she lifted her eyelids half-way to take a look at her watch. Only twelve thirty, the guests were not coming until two, she had time to sleep. Sally closed her eyes again; holding on to Wufei's sheet and quickly fell asleep.

Wufei closed the door silently. Seemed like he had gotten rid of her. He sighed, this day was so awful. First there had been this altercation with Yuen, which left him bitter, then, when he got to the dinning room, Sally was not there. And since Wu Feng was taking care of Meilan, he had to sit between Sally's "mother" and Yuen, having the first one trying to match him with her daughter and the second one kicking his tibia under the table. Before Yuen's mother realised it, Wufei's had a big bump. And now, she was coming after him, on her mother's demand, to apologise and play him some flute. She probably sucked at it too. When she had gone to retrieve her flute, Wufei had silently escaped from the boudoir.

Still quietly, Wufei walked toward to bed. His sheets had been left on the little bench used as a stair. He snorted. The maid had not done her work. Always with the care of being silent, Wufei tried to pick up the sheets when they started to moan. Wufei raised an eyebrow. He drew them to discover a sleeping Sally.

"Now what is she doing in MY room, with MY sheets…" He thought. "Could it be…? Ho! Ho! I didn't know that…." An evil smile crossed his lips. He shook Sally carefully; ready to put a hand on her mouth to prevent her from screaming.

"Woman!"

Sally opened her eyes.

"Wufffw !" She screamed, ending with his hand on her mouth. She looked at him; he had his finger in front of his mouth. Sally freed herself.

"What is with the silence thing?" She murmured.

"I didn't know you were so perverted, Woman!" He murmured too. "If you wanted to smell my scent so bad, you should have asked me. I would have been happy to lend your my shampoo and cologne." He ended with a sly smile.

Sally's eyes widened with anger. Wufei put his hand on her mouth, preventing.

"Shhh, don't scream, Woman, or she'll find me."

Wufei released her again.

"Who?" She asked murmuring.

"Your sister."

"Half-sister." Insisted Sally a bit too loud.

"Shhh! Whatever! She must not find me!"

"Why?"

Wufei told Sally about the altercation in the garden, the dinner and everything.

"I just can't stand to be near her!"

Sally laughed silently; she felt the same about Yuen.

"Don't laugh, Woman. It's your entire fault. Where were you?"

"I had some things to do; like changing your sheets. Seems like I fell asleep while taking a pause! " She murmured.

"MISTER CHANG?" Screamed someone in the hallway.

Wufei started to look around, panicking a bit.

"Oh no! She's going to find me if I stay here! Help me Sally."

She looked at him, eyes wide open.

"Sally? Who's that? My name is WOMAN, don't you remember?" She asked with a devilish smile.

"MISTER CHAAAAAAAANG?" Screamed the voice, closer.

"Jodan janai ! I'm not kidding! Help me"

"Since when do you ask perverted women to help you?"

"Ok! I'm So-rry. Now I'll go on the balcony, just tell her you didn't see me." He said already opening the outside door.

Sally rolled her eyes.

"I get the concept, no need to explain." But the door was already closed. She pulled her tongue at it and began to cough uncontrollably.

Somebody knocked on the door.

"Is it you mister Chang? I'm coming in." She said, opening the door. The only thing she saw was Sally coughing hard with watery eyes. She looked relieved rather than deceived.

"Nice, it's just you." Yuen said.

Sally stopped coughing and looked at Yuen her Chinese flute in hand. She approached the young girl and touched her forehead. Yuen stood back fast, hitting Sally's hand away.

"Don't touch me!" She exclaimed, touching her forehead, probably looking for dirt or something disgusting.

Sally smiled.

"Now that's the Yuen I know. Since when are you happy to see me?"

Yuen rolled her eyes.

"I wasn't happy, I was relieved, and that's different. You haven't seen that jerk Wufei, have you?

Sally shook her head.

"That's good. Mom sent me after him. She wants me to play the flute for him. Like I really want to!"

"Don't you like Wufei?" She asked, hoping for a negative answer.

Yuen was about to answer when she saw the look on Sally's face. She smiled hypocritically. "Seems like it's time to play…" She thought. "Of course, I do like him. I mean he's very handsome and his way of respecting ancient traditions is so nice. I just don't like to be pushed in the back. I didn't want to play the flute 'cause I'm afraid he would say I'm bad at it." She ended with a fake shy face.

"You lie. You called him a jerk." Opposed Sally with a quite serious look on her face.

"I did? Oh, it's just that I was so used to call your father a jerk that when I see a man, I just can't help it." She replied with a cruel smile.

Sally's jaws clenched. She was shaking, her eyes filled with anger.

"He was your father too."

"So what? The fact of being my father doesn't change anything about him being a jerk. And what do you know about it, you barely knew him. The last time you saw him you were twelve, so don't talk about things you don't know." She said, angry. "Anyway, if you see Mister Chang, tell him I'll be waiting for him in the boudoir."

"You lie" Replied Sally.

Yuen rolled her eyes.

"No it's true, I'll be waiting…"

"I'm talking about you liking Wufei…" She interrupted. She knew that she was looking stupid right now, but she had to know, to be sure. Yuen sighed.

"OK I don't ! You are happy now? Well don't be too much. I can see right through you Sally Po. I intend to have fun with you and him…" She added with a detestable smile on her face.

"You're a snake!"

"Maybe." She replied walking toward the door. "But if I am, then you're my prey…" She ended closing the door behind her, leaving Sally with her anger.

Sally was totally pissed off. That girl would need a lesson, and a good one. She waited till she did not hear Yuen footsteps anymore then opened the balcony door to let him in. He was soaked and looking angry. He stepped in.

"Great! Now my clothes are all wet, what am I going to wear!" He said, starting to unbutton his robe. "What is it with you, Woman? Couldn't you tell her I wasn't here without starting a conversation?"

Sally started to walk away, this was too much.

"Hey! I'm talking to you, Woman! Where are you going?" He asked grabbing her shoulder to make her stop. Sally turned around and punched Wufei in the face. He fell down, surprised.

"GO TO HELL, WUFEI! IT WASN'T MY STUPID IDEA TO GO HIDE OUTSIDE IN THE RAIN! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S STUPID SO LIVE WITH IT. AND I WASN'T CONVERSING! SHE WAS GIVING ME SHIT THERE! OK? YOU WANTED IT TO BE DONE THE RIGHT WAY? THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU DO IT YOURSELF SO IT WOULD BE PERFECT SINCE YOU'RE THE PERFECT MAN! I JUST DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT WHAT YOU WEAR, I JUST DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK, I JUST DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOU EITHER. TO BE FRANK, I HATE YOU, I DESPISE YOU. YOU'RE LUCKY I DON'T HAVE A GUN RIGHT NOW 'CAUSE YOU'D BE ALREADY DEAD! LEAVE ME ALONE YOU MACHO FREAK AND DON'T TOUCH ME!" On this "sweet" note she left the room slamming the door. Wufei was still on the floor, stunned.


	7. Rain

Part VII (Revised)

Everyone had gathered in the salon. There were about twenty guest, including the kids. They were all Chinese and wearing white. A drink in the hand, the adults were discussing joyfully, happy to see each other. Sally did not know any of them. If the closed wooden coffin with her father's picture on the top and the black mortuary stone had not been there against the wall, and if the scent of incense had not filled the air with its macabre perfume, anyone would have thought that this was a casual party. The guests did not know the dead, so after paying their respects to Sally who was sitting on a chair next to the coffin, they were not paying attention anymore.

Wufei entered the room. He was wearing a simple white Chinese shirt with assorted white pants. He did not wear his sword. Sure, it was not as spectacular as his other outfit, but looking at the indifferent people in the room he felt like it would not have made a difference anyway. He quickly scanned the room, looking for Sally. She was sitting next to her father's coffin, wearing a beautiful white Chinese dress with round golden embroidered mandala. Her hair was curling loose down her shoulders. Her face was closed, not showing any emotions. She was pale. If she had not moved, once in a while, one could have thought that she was also dead. Next to her, was a pregnant woman he hand not seen before, crying softly, her face buried in her hands and next to that woman was Wu Feng, holding Meilan in his arms. She was also crying. Slowly, Wufei walked to the coffin and kneeled down to pray. He lighted incense sticks and closed his eyes. Sally had been acting pretty strange today. It was like her to change moods more than once in a day and it was surely like her to yell at him, but not the way she did. Sally was never really mean in what she was saying, but then, after punching him, he felt that she strongly believed in what she said. If she really did not care about him, why did she invite him here? He felt weird inside, it was a feeling he had long ago, when he had made Meilan cry in front of their friends. It was the bitter feeling of shame and the awful one of being unwanted But Sally was not crying. He had not seen her cry those past two days. It was not like her. She was emotional, like women usually are. She was probably holding back her tears. Wufei opened his eyes and observed Sally. She was standing straight even with all the fatigue, staring at nothing in particular, like an antic marble statue. She did not even look at him.

Sally was holding back her tears. Usually, she was pretty bad at it, but since Mother was there looking at her with all her dumb guests, she would not give them the pleasure of seeing the little American girl cry. Still, it was hard to keep this stone like face. But now, with Wufei at her side, it was easier and harder at the same time. She knew that he was secretly looking at her. She could feel his eyes on her. But she would not give him the pleasure of seeing her cry, no way. She never had, so she was not going to begin today. In the other hand, she felt awfully bad about what she shouted at Wufei back in the room. Sure, blinded by the rage, she believed in everything she said, but now, she knew it was all lies. She was so confused with what Yuen said that she had to let it out, one way or another. Wufei happened to be passing by… She gave him a little look. His eyes were closed in meditation. Even though he was trying hard to hide it, Sally could see that he was stressed only by looking at his frowned eyebrows. She felt sorry. Suddenly, Wufei got up. Sally returned fast to her statue role. She waited for him to make a move, but he just stood there, looking at the picture on Sally's father's coffin.

Wufei closed his eyes, trying to stop this feeling of déjà vu from overcoming his mind. He was focussing hard when a loud cry made him jump. He turned around to see Yuen rushing in the room, her hair in disorder and tears running uncontrollably on her cheeks. Quickly, she ran to her father's coffin, pushing Wufei aside and started to cry harder.

"Father!" She screamed. "Father, please don't go away!"

The guest began to murmur compassion words for the "poor" child. Sally looked at her step-sister with disgust. She was acting her role perfectly, crying and hugging the coffin. No one would have believed that she was calling the man a jerk a few hours before. Sally could not bear it. That was too much. That brat was not going to get away with this one. Furiously, she stood up, making her chair fall down. Everyone turned to her, even though Yuen was still crying loudly. She was shaking from head to toes. She swallowed her unshed tears, trying to give herself the courage to speak. She turned her head to Wufei. He was looking at her with interrogating eyes. This would be for him. She turned to the crowd.

"Can't you people see that she is pretending?" She asked furious.

The guest looked at her with uncertain eyes. So it was not enough. She would do more. She walked the few steps separating her from Yuen and took her by her loose hair. She pulled it hard to force Yuen to show her wet face. Yuen cried. Sally pulled harder.

"See that little bitch? She called my father a jerk! She's just acting!" She shouted at the guest's faces. Murmurs of disapproval were heard. Mother was getting angry.

"Mei ! Stop that immediately. It's not because you're stone hearted that everyone is!"

Sally's jaws clenched. Yuen got up and released herself from Sally's grip. Her cheeks were still wet, but she was not crying anymore. A defying fire was burning in her eyes. She made a smile only her step-sister saw. Sally, unable to hold herself back, punched Yuen in the face really hard. She fell on the floor crying. Sally turned to the guests.

"I'm no cold hearted. You people are the ones who are cold. I can cry too if I want!"

Everyone looked at Sally, waiting for her to cry. She was ready to do it; she was ready to let it flow. She let herself go. People waited. Nothing was coming out of her eyes. What was the problem with her! She was about to burst in tears a few minutes before and now there was nothing.

"I can cry, but not in front of this hypocrite!" She declared, looking down at her step-sister. Still, she had the triumphal smile on her lips. Sally, furious, started kicking Yuen with her high heels. As soon as she began, the guests jumped on her to make her stop, but no one was able to hold her back. "I'll kill you, bitch!" She yelled. Yuen was trying to run away from Sally in vain, not smiling anymore. Sally was about to kick her come more when she felt strong arms pulling her back. She started to scream, trying to free herself from the strong grip, in vain. Suddenly, she started to cough violently, unable to scream, she resigned herself. She turned her head to see… Wufei !

He looked at her as if she had gone insane. What was with her, all of a sudden? She would have killed that girl for sure if he had not stop her. At least, while she was coughing, she could not scream or insult anyone. Suddenly, Sally stopped coughing and started screaming and raging again, kicking Wufei to make him let go.

"Mister Chang?" Asked a soft voice behind him. He turned around, Sally in his arms, to look at a pregnant woman, the one he had seen cry a bit earlier. He jumped with surprised. He knew that woman. He had seen her before, somewhere. But where? He knew those sweet eyes too much and that gentle mouth too. Who was she? He had to figure. She was also looking at him, not surprised a bit. Maybe he was mistaken, but he could have sworn that he knew her from somewhere. He looked at her a moment, searching his mind for an answer, not hearing what she was saying to him. He came back to reality when Sally gave him a big hit on the head with her head. The lady in front of him asked if he was alright.

"Hn. I am"

"Would you please take Sally outside? She is going to break everything and…" She looked at her daughter on the verge of tears. "I beg you… I don't want Meilan to see more of this…"

Wufei jumped twice as he heard the name Sally and Meilan. He nodded. Meilan. That woman had something to do with his dead wife, for sure. But he had no time to think of that right now, since Yuen had jump on Sally to punch her back. Sally kicked her away and she landed on the floor again. Sally was coughing and trying to insult Yuen at the same time. Wufei walked fast toward the door and exited the room. As soon as they were out, he heard the guest commenting Sally's behaviour. Sally was still coughing violently, kicking Wufei who was taking her to the inner garden.

Rain was pouring. The ground was covered with mud. It was cold. As soon as they got outside, Wufei freed Sally. Surprised, she fell on her knees in the mud. She was still coughing uncontrollably a hand in front of her mouth. Suddenly, she hunched her back and threw up all over herself. When she was done, she started shaking. Wufei walked to meet her and squatted next to her. He held out his hands to help her stand. She kept on looking in front of her, shaking. Her hair was sticking to her face and her make up was running on her cheeks wet by the rain. Slowly, he reached out Sally's cheek to wipe it. She did not react.

"Sally?" He said softly.

She did not move. He had to snap her out of her trance. He removed his hand from Sally's cheek to slap her. She jumped and turned to him with angry eyes. Wufei took his annoyed look and snorted.

"I just can believe that you did what you just did! Such a shame for your family, Woman!" He declared, getting up. That was enough to ignite Sally's rage. Fast, she got up, furious. She tried to punch him. Her fist connected with Wufei palm. She tried with her other fist, but it connected again with Wufei's hand. She let out a battle cry. She pushed him away. Then she rushed back at him. The same circus began over and over. After a moment, she got tired. Her punches were getting weaker and weaker. Her cries were more like moans. She finally ended against Wufei's chest, giving him very weak punches. Wufei passed his arms around her, pressing her against his chest, not minding the vomit that still covered her and now covered him. She let herself go to his kind embrace. With his hand, he gentle pressed her head against his shoulder. She nestled her face in the space where his neck and shoulder connected. The rain was still falling noisily. Still, it was cold. Sally was shivering, but he knew without any doubts that she was not crying. He gently stroked her hair. This was feeling so right and so wrong. Wufei just did not know what to think. Sally had now stretched her arms to wrap them around his waist. He was feeling her warmth all over his body and her breath on his neck. It just felt good to be standing in the rain, held by someone this tight. But this someone was Sally, and it felt… Not bad, but surely weird. Sally moaned.

"Daddy… I'm so cold…"

Daddy? Suddenly, Sally started to cry gently, like a little girl.

"Daddy… I'm cold… I don't want to go to school… I wanna see Mommy…"

Wufei was confused. He touched Sally's forehead. She had a fever.

"It's okay Sally, we'll get you to bed…" He whispered to her hear. Sally began to resist, weakly as Wufei started to walk toward the house.

"I don't wanna go in… He's there…"

"Who's there?" He asked, ignoring Sally's resistance.

"He hates me…" She answered, still crying softly.

"Who does?" He asked, climbing the stone stairs.

"He says I'm weak, and he's right…"

"Who says you're weak?" He asked as he pushed the door. Even though he already knew the answer, he wanted to hear it. Sally did not answer, but moaned with pleasure as she felt the warmth of the house enveloping her. Then, he felt her muscles soothing as she slowly slipped against him. Wufei, held her tighter. She was unconscious. Gently, Wufei passed one arm under her knees and picked her up to carry her upstairs to their room.

"I don't hate you…" He whispered more to himself than to Sally.

As he passed by the salon's opened door, Li-han saw him. Politely, she excused herself and got out of the room to follow Wufei.

Wufei was standing in the hallway, leaning against the wooden wall. The pregnant woman was with Sally in the room, changing her to put her to bed. He was feeling depressed. Depressed about all the things Sally had said to him today, depressed about him, feeling like a jerk, and depressed about that pregnant woman which he could not recognise. He sighed. This day had start so well… And was now ending weirdly. He gave himself a quick look. This was the second outfit he had screwed today… Adding to that, he was stinking. He sighed, tired. Then, he heard the quiet sound of the door opening. He turned his head to see the pregnant woman.

"You may come in…" She whispered.

Wufei followed her inside. Sally was wearing a white silk pyjama lying on an occidental baldaquin bed with pink veil. She was shivering, tossing and turning. From time to time, she would let out a little moan or cry.

"Did she regain consciousness?" Wufei asked.

"Yes, she's sleeping."

"Shouldn't we put her under the covers?"

"No. She has a fever. To make it go down, she must be exposed to a fresh temperature." Explained the pregnant woman. "I'll go make something for her to eat when she wakes up. While I do, I would appreciate it if you would stay by her side, in case she wakes up. She will probably panic if she's alone. When I'll come back, I'll take your place, so that you can take a bath. After that, you'll have to take care of her since I'm required downstairs." She explained, with a sigh. "There is a bowl with fresh water on the night stand. There are also some clean compresses. You may try to put some on her forehead if she calms down." She ended pointing a white wooden night stand. "If you'll excuse me…" Then she bowed at him and went downstairs.

Wufei sighed. Then he gave a look around the room. It really was a little girl's room. Beside the pink bed, there were also the silky pink curtains, the huge collection of stuffed animals, the collection of porcelain dolls, the soft pink carpet and the white wooden furniture. He took a small chair in front of a cute dressing table and put it beside the bed. He sat and sighed. He looked at Sally. She was still tossing and turning nervously, mumbling incoherent words in a desperate voice. Her hand was clutched tight on her pyjama's top. Wufei held out his hand to grab Sally's one. She held on it tightly. Her fingers were moist and cold. She was shaking but stopped moving. Wufei left his chair and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Mommy…" Moaned Sally.

Wufei sighed. He was getting more and more depressed. He did not know what to do. All things were mixed up inside of him. What was the right thing to do? Without noticing it, Wufei let go of Sally's hand.

"Don't leave me!" She cried, holding out nervously her hand. Finding nothing, she started panicking. "Don't go! Don't!" She started to cry. Instantly, Wufei took back her hand in his. But it was not enough; Sally was still panicking and crying. She was pulling hard on Wufei's hand.

"Shhhh… Everything is alright. I'm here… You're not alone." Saying that, he began to wipe the tears of her face. At this contact, Sally regained her calm. Wufei sighed, again. The rain was still falling noisily against the windows.

"Il pleut sur mon cœur, comme il pleut sur la ville…" Whispered Wufei, remembering the words of a poet. This was going far away from his expectation. Never would he have imagined that this simple trip with is partner would have turned this way… And it was only the first day! He sighed. He still did not have the time to ask Sally the question he wanted to ask her. More, other questions were now forming in his mind.

"Why did you ask me to come with you? " He said, absentmindedly caressing Sally's soft forehead. "If you think that I hate you, why inviting me?"

"Because you are very precious to her." Answered a voice behind him.

Wufei jumped and quickly left Sally's bed, freeing her hand. The pregnant woman was standing near the door, a wooden tray in her hand. Silently she walked to the night stand, and put the tray on it. Then, she turned to Wufei who had not moved an inch.

"I brought two bowls of rice and some fried vegetables for you. There is also some tea. You may go refresh yourself." Saying that, she sat on the chair and took Sally's hand in hers. This woman was mystifying Wufei. Who was she?

"What did you say about Sally?" He asked, trying to look uninterested by taking his pyjama from his suitcase.

The pregnant woman sighed.

"Wufei, what I said should already be known by your heart. I won't repeat myself. You should already be aware of this. Search your heart, and if you are true to yourself, you'll see that you already knew."

Wufei looked at her. What was she talking about? She called him Wufei, but they had never talk. Still, the sound of his name in that woman's mouth sounded familiar. More than ever, he was sure that he had known her before. He was about to ask her about it, but it was like she read his mind.

"I shall answer your questions later. Now isn't the proper time and place. Now go."

Wufei obeyed and left the room without saying a word, his white pyjama in hand. The pregnant woman smiled softly.

Wufei was walking silently in the dark hall. He gave a look at his watch. Only five thirty. It was a bit soon to go to bed, but he did not feel like going spend the evening with all these people downstairs he did not know. With care, he pushed the door. As soon as he got inside, a little girl jumped on him, asking to be carried. Wufei deposed his dirty clothes on the little dressing table and picked up Meilan. Sally's niece began to play with his wet hair, braiding some strand of it. She quickly got tired of it, since Wufei's hair would not stay braided more than a couple of seconds. She simply passed her arms around his neck and held on to him.

"I was looking for you!" Declared the little one. "Papa told me you were upstairs with mama so I came, but you were taking your bath!"

"Hn…" Answered Wufei, looking at Meilan's mother. "Did she…?"

"No, she's still asleep…" Answered the pregnant woman. She got up and walked toward Wufei. "Now Meilan, you saw Mister Chang, so you're going back downstairs to papa." Wufei put the little girl down.

"But mama, I want to stay here…" She pouted.

"Meilan, don't make me repeat myself. Mister Chang and Aunt Mei will be here all week; you'll have plenty of time to spend with them. Now go, I'll join you in a few moments." Saying that, she gently guided her daughter to the door. Meilan sighed, and then she blew Wufei a kiss and went away humming a Chinese song. The pregnant woman turned to Wufei. "I'll be going to, please take well care of Sally." Saying that, she reopened the door.

"Wait! I'm sorry to ask you that but, who are you? I mean I know who you are to Sally, but…"

"But you want to know just who I am to you." She turned to Wufei. She had a melancholic smile on her lips. "You don't remember me at all, don't you?"

Wufei nodded.

The pregnant woman sighed and looked down a moment. Then, she returned to Wufei.

"It was a long time ago. The last time you saw me, you were six. I used to take care of you, on the colony. My name is Li-han Long, or Li-han Ron if you prefer. But to you, it was Lili. Your wife, Meilan, was my little sister."


	8. Feelings

Part VIII (Revised)

Wufei was sitting straight, looking in front of him. Li-han Ron. Lili. Meilan's sister. The girl who had raise him. She was there. It explained a lot. It explained why Wu Feng knew about the Dragon clan. It explained Sally's niece's blue eyes. It explained Sally's niece's name. Shikashi… It meant that Li-han had seen him act with Sally. She had seen him being unfaithful to Meilan's memory. She had seen him dishonouring his wife. He was so ashamed. If only he knew, he would have behaved… If only he knew, what was he saying? He should have been faithful to Meilan since the day of her death. What he had done was unforgivable. Deep down inside, he felt like hiding himself to never come out again. He had to admit it to himself, he only felt like breaking down and cry. But he was a man. His honour was dirty enough; he would not add to it the shame of crying. Wufei took his face in his hand, pressing his palms against his eyes, pulling his wet hair with his fingers. He remained this way a moment till he heard Sally scream. He opened his eyes and turned to her. She was sitting straight in the bed, her eyes wide opened. She was mumbling incomprehensible things, panicking. Without any hesitation, Wufei jumped on the bed to sit in front of Sally. Gently, but firmly, he took Sally's head between his hands.

Sally was afraid. Why was there so much blood on her? Why was her mother laying on the floor in a sea of blood? And Wufei… Wufei was crucified to a tree, but still he was conversing with Yuen, laughing. Blood was flowing from his opened wounds but he did not seem to realise it. Suddenly, two snakes took her hands and tied her to a tree. Mother came walking and took her face in her hands…

"Sally!" She said. "_I will kill you. Just like I killed your mother and father…_"

Sally shook her head, tears beginning to roll on her cheeks.

"Sally!" She said again. "Wake up Sally!" Her voice had change, it was manlier. "You are dreaming! Wake up, Sally!" Slowly, Mother's face faded away to show Wufei. The weird atmosphere also faded to reveal her room. Sally was breathing heavily, looking at Wufei with large eyes. Was this reality or just another silly dream? She looked around quickly without moving her head. This looked like reality. She returned to Wufei. He was looking at her with perplex eyes. He looked beautiful, his hair in disorder and his lips… They were so tempting. His hands were warm on her cheeks. Slowly, she put her owns hands on his. They were so soft… She wanted to kiss him. This was the only thing she could think of right now. Gently, she got closer to him. He closed his eyes, waiting. Sally's heart was beating fast… This was feeling so good. She was about to touch his lips when she swallowed. Sally grimaced.

"AHHH! What IS that awful taste in my mouth? This is so gross!" She exclaimed.

Wufei quickly released Sally from his hands and jumped off the bed. He did not seem to be alright. He had reacted just as if he had been hit by a lightning. He stood there, turning his back to her. Was he shaking, or was it just her imagination?

"Wufei? Are you all right?" She asked, still grimacing.

"Hn." He answered without turning around.

Sally walked on her knees to get to the corner of the bed where the man was standing. Gently, she put her hand on his shoulder. Fast, he freed himself to go sit on the chair. Sally followed on the mattress. Wufei was filling a cup with tea. When he was done, he gave it to Sally, without looking at her. Then, he took the other cup and served himself.

"You threw up because you were coughing." He explained in a voice Sally did not know him.

"Oh…" Sally blushed, remembering the way she had punched her step-sister. Now she was in trouble. Mother would kill her. Would she let her attempt to her father's burial? She hoped so. But that was not the most urgent thing she had in mind. The thing she was really worried about was how she got in her bed, and why was her hair humid? "Wufei?"

Wufei did not answer; he was eating some vegetables silently. He did not look well. He was pale. His hands were shaking. He was looking down.

"Wufei?" He remained silent. Sally stretched her arm to touch his shoulder. As soon as he felt her touch, he jumped on his feet, dropping his bowl and making his chair fall down.

"Don't touch me, Woman!" He shouted, standing against the wall.

Sally was stunned. What was happening? Was she dreaming or was Wufei looking at her with watery eyes? He really was not going well.

"I'm sorry; I was just trying to have your attention…" She apologised, stretching her arm again, but now to reach a bowl of rice and some chopsticks. Wufei looked down. Then, he kneeled down to pick up the vegetables off the floor. He seemed relieved to have something to do. Sally cleared her throat.

"Hum, I was wondering… I mean, how did I get here?"

"I carried you." Answered Wufei with a strange voice, still busy with the vegetables.

"Oh… And why is my hair humid?"

"You were trying to kill your sister. I carried you outside to calm you down. Then you threw up. After that, we got back inside and Li-han put you to bed." While explaining, Wufei took the chair and sat. He began to eat rice.

"Hum… Did I… I mean, I… Did I say things? You know…"

"No..." Lied Wufei.

They ate in silence, both filled with their thoughts. Soon, it was time to get to sleep. Sally proposed to help Wufei with his futon and covers but he refused, as if he was trying to stay as far as possible from her. When all things were settle, Sally closed the light. The silence took over the room. They could still hear the voices of the guests downstairs. It did not take long for Sally to start coughing again. Annoyed, she sat in her bed, unable to stop.

"_I will wake Wufei up, if I go on like this…_" She thought.

With a lot of care to make no sounds, Sally took her pillow and a sheet in her arms and decided to go sleep in the library. There was a little couch there. That way, she would not disturb Wufei. She had not make three steps that Wufei got on his elbows to see what was going on.

"Where are you going, Woman?" He asked, perfectly awaked.

"I'm going to sleep in the library, that way I won't disturb your sleep."

Wufei got on his feet and walked to Sally.

"Who said your were disturbing?"

Sally sighed.

"I'm not stupid, Wufei. I know that listening to someone cough all night isn't the best thing to get you to sleep!"

Wufei took the pillow and sheet from Sally's arms and walked toward to do the bed. When he was done, he came back to Sally, took her by the wrist and guided her back into her bed. Sally climbed in without a word. Wufei put her under the cover, than looked at her in the dark. She was looking at him with interrogative eyes. She was lovely, her loose hair on her white pillow. In the shadows of night, he felt less guilt to look at her. With one trembling hand, he reached her forehead. He caressed its softness and her cheeks with the tip of his fingers.

"If you disturb me, I'll be the one going to sleep on that couch." He whispered, getting closer to her face.

Sally was looking at him, stunned. Few moments before, Wufei was standing silent and trembling and now he was whispering sweet things to her ears. Truly, she did not understand him at all. She must have given him a fever. As he was getting closer, she closed her eyes. They were about to kiss. Sally's heart was beating fast. At last, it would happen. Their lips were almost kissing when the door opened, noisily. Wufei jumped back against the wall to see the little Meilan, looking at him with big eyes. His own eyes widened as he thought.

"_Oh God!__ What was I about to do?" _


	9. Mixed Emotions

You've been waiting for it and finally here it is! Yes, after what? 2 years? Chapter 9 is finally out! I hope you'll enjoy it as things get intense between Sally and Wufei. As always, thank you for reading! But most of all, thank you for your patience!

Part VIX

Sally was sitting in the kitchen. She could see the early golden sun caress warmly the red tiled floor of the room. The house was silent. Sally liked these early hours. It made her feel that she belonged in this place. She let her eyes wander on the bamboo forest. So green. So quiet. She wished she could attain such internal peace. She sighed. Waking up with the first ray of sun, she found Wufei's bed empty, and undone, something surprising for the always-tidy man. She went around the house, silently looking for him, but he was nowhere to be found. Maybe he was outside taking a walk, though she did not remember telling him about the trails in the forest. She just hoped he was alright. Slowly, she walked to the stove and poured herself some more of her special flu mix. Coca-Cola, ginger and lemon; sure tasted weird, but the efficiency of this Chinese remedy had been proved more than once. Sally bit her lip. Where was Wufei?

Wufei was sitting on a secular stone bench on the side of a trail overlooking the raging river. The breeze still carried the scent and coolness of last night's rain and played softly in Wufei's undone hair. Still wearing the interior clothes he had slept in, he was a real mess. After being caught by Meilan last night, his mind had been a battlefield and he had not sleep a minute without waking up in sweat. This had to be a sign. The spirit of Meilan could not rest in piece because of him, because of the way he had conducted himself towards Sally. Wufei sighed deeply and bit his lower lip. He should have known from the beginning that staying away from that woman was the best thing to do. He should have known that his feeling for the opposite sex were not dead as he had supposed. He should…. He should…

Wufei stood up.

"I should have protected Meilan" he exploded with frustration.

He clenched his fist and walked to across the trail to the rickety wooden railing. His heart was racing. With a stoic calm, Wufei fought the tears that welled up in his eyes. He did not know what to think or how to act. He did not know how to feel or what to say. All he knew was that it all summed up to infinite sadness. But it was an unmanly feeling, and he intended to fight it with all his might. No matter what he was feeling, traditions had to be protected and he needed to honour them. He needed to honour Meilan's soul. Thus, any relation to Sally was to proscribe. No matter what.

Wufei nodded to himself and with this new self-made reasoning, he walked back home convinced of the righteousness of his thoughts. In the distant sky, clouds started to overcome the light of the sun and the day turned grey by the second. The wind howled in the bamboos.

In the house, most people were now awoken and eating breakfast or getting ready for the day in their respective room. The day's schedule was pretty simple; everybody was to leave the house to follow Sally's father's body to the Buddhist temple where a ceremony would be held and the body cremated. As of a result of yester night's display, Sally had been assigned the task of keeping the house while everybody was away; another of her mother-in-law's tricks. Sally had been shocked by the decision but did not have much time to think about it since she was busy with breakfast. Her only satisfaction of the moment had been to see Yuen ecchymosed as blue as a grape.

As the last guests left the dining room, Sally was finally able to clean up the table when Wufei showed up, at last. Sally gave him a weird look.

"Still wearing that?" she asked.

"None of your business, woman." he grunted. "Now serve me breakfast!"

"Yes, your majesty" replied Sally annoyed. Where was the Wufei of last night?

Sally went back to the kitchen and prepared two plates, one for him and one for her. She decided that she would eat with Wufei, just to annoy the hell out of him.

Back in the dining room she handed him his plate and sat in front of him ignoring him deliberately. Wufei lifted an eyebrow but returned to his plate, too hungry to care. For a moment, the only noises that could be heard in the room were those of mastication and of the utensil on the plates. Unable to hold it anymore, Sally broke the silence.

"Today they're seeing my father's body to the temple where it will be cremated." She said flatly.

Wufei lifted his eyes from his almost empty plate.

"'They'? Why they? Aren't you going too?"

Sally sighed.

"Unfortunately I was assigned the task of keeping the house while everybody is gone… How convenient!" she said sarcastically. "Could you go for me?"

"No" replied Wufei, going back to his plate.

"What?" replied Sally. "What did you say?"

Wufei looked in Sally's eyes. She was in deep pain, he could see it, but he had to keep his promises to Meilan, it was for their best interest. He would not weaken anymore.

"I think it was pretty clear. I said no. Why should I go? It's none of my relatives and plus you're not going. I have no reason to go. I'll stay here."

Sally was growing angrier with every of the words coming out of his mouth. Suddenly, she stood up, knocking over her chair.

"I can believe you! I can't believe this. You don't have reasons to go? Let me give you ONE FUCKING REASON! I CAN'T GO! Do you know what it means to me? Do you have any idea of what this ceremony represents to me? For Christ sake Wufei! Are you Chinese or what?" she yelled at the man.

"I thought I had been clear Woman. I am not going, period." Wufei repeated calmly.

Losing what was left of her temper, Sally threw her plate against the wall behind Wufei. In a flash she was on the table holding her colleague by the collar.

"You know what Wufei?" she hissed "Just go back to the Headquarters. I don't want to see your fucking little face here anymore. I thought you were different from all the phonies here but you're no special man. Just a little bastard. Well you know what? Fuck you. Fuck you Wufei." Her last words were accompanied with a strong right punch in the man's face.

Wufei, far from expecting this fell on his back, stunned. Sally got of the table, threw her apron at his face and rushed out of the room. In the opposite doorway stood Li-Han who had witnessed the whole scene. Slowly she got closer to Wufei and helped him to get back on his feet. Silently he accepted her help. His nose and his lower lip were bleeding.

Outside, the sky started to cry.


	10. Unknown path

You've been waiting for it! Yes! I bring you, at last, chapter 10!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing…. But if I did, I surely would hire Gackt to sing my songs, hehehe…

Part X

Unknown path

Wufei was sitting at the bottom of the staircase. The house was quiet. Everyone was gone. At his feet, his bags waited. Li-han was gone too. But her words still echoed in his mind. Her words, instead of soothing his soul, had thrown fire on the turmoil of his feelings.

"_Wufei, what is happening with you? You were never like that. Yes, you were always stubborn but you never used to hurt people like that. Is it Meilan? Is she making you all these things?"_

Angry, Wufei had answered that it was none of her business and had turned heels to exit the dining room. Had it stopped there, things would have been fine with Wufei. He would have been able to leave and never turn back. But she went on.

"_Wufei._ _Meilan died in vain, yes. Meilan disappeared without warning. Yes, you could have saved her had you been at the right place at the right time"_

Wufei had stopped, his hand on the door, shaking.

"_But you weren't and she died. This is not something you can change. I have never blamed your, nor anyone has. Meilan, wherever she may rest now, surely, isn't blaming you."_

Wufei had pleaded the woman to stop with a weak voice.

"_One thing I am sure though. She most probably hates you and what you have become."_

Wufei felt as if his body weighted a ton. He wanted to run away from this woman. He did not want to hear anymore of it but he just could not move. He was shivering.

"_And if you are acting so because of her, she must hate herself too for it. Do you think she would be happy to see you wasting your life with grief and remorse when you ought to be happy? Do you think she would not envy you for being alive? If anything, Meilan wants you to be happy. Being happy does not mean to forget her, Wufei. Nor does being in love. Go on like this Wufei, and Meilan shall never be able to rest in peace. Nor shall you be able to live in peace with yourself."_

Then she had left. Overwhelmed, Wufei had let his weight pull him down to the ground and had sat on the tiled floor a blank expression on his face. He could not remember how long he had sat there; only that it had seemed like ages. He himself felt like he had aged a lot. He had finally gotten up and walked to Sally's room to find it deserted. Slowly, he had made his bed and packed his belonging in his bags. The whole time his mind had been empty of all thoughts. Only his resolve had remained clear. He thought he must leave this house before he dishonoured Meilan's memory.

So there he was, at the bottom of the staircase, unable to move again. He did not know where Sally was at the moment, but he tried to convince himself that he didn't care.

"I bet she's crying in some dark corner of the house." He thought though the spirit was not there. He sneered.

The rain was pouring outside, unchanging. There was no point in waiting for it to stop. With a sigh, Wufei took his bags and walked to the door. His hand stopped on the doorknob, hesitating. He did not really know what he was expecting. Sally to run after him, maybe? The shadow of a smile crossed the Chinese man's face. That was ridiculous for him to think. Shaking his head slightly he pushed the door and walked out in the rain

The path down to the village was muddy and hard to walk. Plus, Wufei did not have an umbrella. His bags were heavy and he was getting soaked. He set his foot on a rock and slipped. Losing his balance he fell face first in the muddy road. Silently, he pushed himself up again. In the distance, the thunder roared. As the rain was soaking his body through and through, Li-han's words were coming back to his mind.

"_One thing I am sure though. She most probably hates you and what you have become."_

Wufei felt his throat tighten.

"_She hates you."_

Wufei clenched his jaw, his eyes burning.

"_She died. This is not something you can change."_

Wufei feet slipped again and he fell backward. He got himself back up with difficulty. Even in the rain, he could feel tears blinding his eyes and rolling down his cheeks. Yet he continued forward.

"_Go on like this Wufei, and Meilan shall never be able to rest in peace. Nor shall you be able to live in peace with yourself."_

Unable to hold it anymore, Wufei let out a loud sob. He slowly let himself slip on to his knee. He was soaked and covered in mud, but it did not matter. The pain, this terrible pain… All these years of war and regrets suddenly caught up with him. All the suffering, the death…

Had this life made any sense? Had everything he had fought for up until now been in vain? How could he have watched all of it without even blinking?

In the middle of a muddy road, in the middle of an ancient forest, Wufei sat holding his face in his hand, crying out loud in pain. With each sob more painful that the previous, Wufei felt as if they would take his life away. Helpless, he lifted his head to the sky and screamed with despair.

Of all his life, he had never been this scared…


End file.
